Automatic taximeter control



2 5 T T fi iih" a Mil;

May 15, 1934. I w BAKER 1,958,559

AUTOMATIC TAXIMETER CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Dec. 30, 1930 [NVEjVYURPatented May 15, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC TAXIMETERCONTROL MECHANISM Application December 30, 1930, Serial No. 505,642

2 Claims. (Cl. 235-30) The object of this invention is to provide meanswhereby the flag shaft of a taximeter will be automatically thrown intorecording position by the passenger entering the cab. Heretofore considerable trouble has been experienced by cab drivers intentionally orunintentionally failing to move the flag of a taximeter so that thetaximeter will record when carrying a passenger. It is, therefore,desirable to have means which will automatically throw the flag shaft ofthe taximeter into position so that the taximeter will operate when thecab is engaged.

Another object of the invention is to provide means which will in nowiscinterfere with the cab driver throwing the flag into its degree oroperative position in case the automatic means should fail to function.The driver should never be relieved from the responsibility of seeingthat the taximeter flag is thrown in case the automatic means should beout of working order or for any reason should fail to function.

In the drawing I have shown in Figure l a conventional taxicab having myimproved construction incorporated thereon.

Figure 2 shows the back side of a conventional taximeter having myinvention incorporated thereon.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the back of a taximeter having myinvention incorporated thereon.

Figure 4 is an inside view of the back of the taximeter showing myinvention and Figure 5 is an enlarged detailed view of the means toprevent the flag being returned to its home position. 7

This invention is an improvement over that shown in my co-pendingapplication, Serial No. 505,641, filed on December 30, 1.930.

By way of illustration I have shown my inven tion as incorporated in aconventional taximeter such as is shown, for instance, in the patentgranted to Julius Gluck 1,762,862, patented June 16, 1930, in which thehome position or the vacant position of the flag is directly above theflag shaft or in the position shown in the drawing in this application.Its hired position is with the flag rotated substantially 90 degreesanticlockwise as shown in Figure 2 or clockwise as shown in Figure 4.Its non-recording position is directly beneath the flag shaft, whichposition is reached by the flag being rotated 180 degrees in thedirections above mentioned. This non-recording position is used when thecab is detained by a prolonged wait which should not be charged to thepassenger, such as a tire blowout. The flag is returned to,its vacantposition or home position by continuing the rotation to the positionshown in Figure 1.

In the drawing the taxicab 1 is provided with a taximeter 2 having aback plate The taximeter will be driven by a conventional means as shownin the above mentioned patent. In the said patent there are two drivingmeans, one from the clock and one from a moving part of the vehicle suchas the front wheel or the transmission. Both of these driving means arecontrolled by the position of the flag shaft. Ii, therefore, the flagshaft is in its home position the taximeter will not record fares but ifit is thrown to its 90 degree position it will record fares, which fareswill be the sum charged for both waiting time and the distance driven.The throwing of the flag from its vacant position to its recordingposition also registers that an initial fare has been charged. Forinstance, the fares in New York City are 15 for the first mile and 5cfor each additional mile. The passenger is therefore charged 16 as anadditional charge over and above what the taximeter would usually recordfor the charge computed on the distance traveled plus the waiting time.If, therefore, the flag is moved from its vacant position to itsrecording position the initial fare will be registered and the taximeterwill be thrown into position whereby it will be operated. Connecting thefloor boards 4 and 6 of the taxicab is a rectangular water-tight box 5which is closed by a rectangular piston 7. Fluid 8 is contained in thebox 5 so that if a passenger should step on the piston 7 his weightwould be transmitted to the fluid 8 which communicates with a pipe 9which communicates with the upper portion of a cylinder 10. The cylinder10 is closed at its bottom by a cap 11 and at its top by a cap 49through which passes a pull rod 12 connected to a piston 50 within thecylinder 10. On the inside of the cylinder 10 are lugs 51 which limitthe upper movement of the piston 50. There are also lower lugs 52 andbetween the piston 50 and the lugs 52 is interposed a helical spring 53.When a passenger steps on the piston 7 he forces the fluid 8 through thepipe 9 into the cylinder 10 above the piston 15 thereby forcing the saidpiston downwardly against the tension of the spring 53. Its downwardmovement will be stopped when the spring 53 is pressed fiat against thelugs 52. Its downward movement pulls down on the pull rod 12. When thepassenger gets out the spring 53 will move the piston 50 upwardly whichmoves the pull rod 12 upwardly and will force that part of the fluid inthe cylinder 10 which is above the piston 50 and below the lugs 51 backthrough the pipe 9 into the fluid box 5.

The pull rod 12 is connected to an arm 13 and a slide 14. The slide 14is guided by guide rails 15. The slide 14 is provided with an ear 16which carries a pivot bolt 1'7 on which is mounted a bell crank lever 18having a lower arm 19 which is normally pressed outwardly by means of aspring 20. A lug 48 may be used to limit the upward movement of the arm19. The lever 18 normally rests directly above a lever 21 secured to theflag shaft or controlling shaft 22 to which is also secured the flag 23.The flag 23 is positioned outwardly beyond the lever 21.

The arm 13 is provided with a hole 24 through which passes a pull member25 provided with a button 26 below the arm 13 so that as the arm 13moves downwardly it will engage the button 26 and pull the pull member25 which passes over a guide roller 27 mounted on the inside of the back3. The pull member 25 is connected to a bell crank lever 28 pivoted on apin 29 carried by an arm 30 secured to the back 3 of the taximeter whichbell crank lever is provided with a forwardly extending arm 31 whichengages the inner end of a stop bolt 32 which extends through the back 3of the taximeter. The stop bolt 32 is provided with a pin 33 and betweenthe pin 33 and the back 3 is a spring 34 which tends to move the stopbolt 32 inwardly and thereby rotate the bell crank lever 28counter-clockwise as viewed in Figure 5 and pull the button 26 upwardly.The fluid 8 is placed under compression and a part of it goes throughthe pipe 9 into the upper portion of the cylinder 10 above the piston 50forcing the piston 50 downwardly and pulling the pull rod 12 and slide14 downwardly so that the bell crank lever 18 will pull downwardly onthe lever 21 and thereby rotate the flag shaft 22. When the piston 50has been moved downwardy as far as it will go the lever 21 will havebeen rotated approximately degrees. member 12 moves downwardly itlikewise moves the arm 13 downwardly so that just prior to the time thatthe arm 11 engages the floor board 10 the arm 13 engages the button 26and pulls the pull member 25 downwardly rotating the bell crank lever 28clockwise as viewed in Figure 5 and projecting the pin 32 outwardly. Theflag shaft has thus been thrown to recording position. If, however, themechanism failed to work there would be nothing to prevent the operatorfrom engaging the flag and manually throwing it to its recordingposition. Furthermore, there is nothing to prevent the operator movingthe flag from its 90 degree or recording position to its 180 degree ornon-recording position but he cannot move it beyond that point for thelever 21 will engage the stop member 32 sothat the operator As the pullcannot return the flag by continuing its rotation to its home position.Furthermore, as shown in the said patent, the flag shaft 22 is providedwith a disk 36 provided with ratchet teeth 35 which extend forapproximately 90 degrees of the circumference of the disk 36 and whichteeth are engaged by a spring pressed pawl 3'7 so that the flag shaftcannot be rotated in a reverse direction from its 90 degree position toits home position. There is, therefore, nothing to prevent the driverfrom moving the flag from its 90 degree position to its 180 degreeposition or from its 180 degree position back to its 90 degree positionbut he cannot rotate it from its 90 degree position directly to its homeposition and he cannot rotate it when the cab is occupied beyond its 180degree position. When the passenger gets out the spring 53 returns apart of the fluid in the cylinder 10 into the fluid box 5 and pushes thepull rod 12 and slide 14 upwardly and raises the arm 13 out ofengagement with the button 26 so that the spring 34 retracts the stopbolt 32 so that the cab driver can now rotate the flag manually from is90 degree position through its 180 degree position to its home position.

It is realized that many changes may be made in the specific form of theinvention as shown by way of illustration in this application and I,therefore, desire to claim the same broadly except as I may limit myselfin the appended claims. Having now described my invention I claim:

1. In combination, a fluid reservoir having a movable part adapted to beactuated by the weight of a passenger, a cylinder, a piston slidablewithin the said cylinder, stops within said cylinder to limit themovement of said piston, communicating means between said reservoir andsaid cylinder so that when the passenger operates the said movable partthe fluid will be forced into said cylinder to actuate said piston, aslide actuated by the movement of the said piston, a taximeter camshaft, and means actuated by the movement of said slide to rotate saidshaft into operative position.

2. In combination, a fluid reservoir having a movable part adapted to beactuated by the weight of a passenger, a cylinder, a piston slidablewithin the said cylinder, stops within said cylinder tolimit themovement of said piston, communicating means between said reservoir andsaid cylinder so that when the passenger operates the said movable partthe fluid will be forced into said cylinder to actuate said piston, aslide actuated by the movement of the said piston, a taximeter camshaft, means actuated by the movement of said slide to rotate said shaftinto operative position, and means within said cylinder to return saidpiston to normal position when the weight of the passenger is removedfrom the reservoir.

HASTINGS W. BAKER.

